I've had Hollow Knight at a 5/5 for a whole now, but I figure if I'm going to wax poetic about the new things I play that aren't perfect scores, I should return to flesh out my thoughts on a game I truly love.
Hollow Knight is fundamentally a standard Metroidvania in structure. Metroidvania is a pretty heavily contested term when it comes to describing games, but Hollow Knight is a quintessential example of the genre. Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night had a bug baby, and it's name is Hollow Knight.
HK's artistic direction is the most recognizable, and one of the best aspects of the game. It's beautiful, unique, and clean. The foreground and backgrounds of scenery blend into these gorgeous screens but without making it unclear what is actually a part of the environment. The character designs are unique, the VFX are great, it's varied, and easy on the eyes. I cannot praise it enough
Mechanically, HK is the true pinnacle of the genre. The ability variety, drip feed pacing, and smoothness of combat all contributes to a fun game with a heavy challenge curve that doesn't feel frustrating.
Describing the gameplay loop isn't worthwhile when you can just Google what a metroidvania is, but it's fun, lol.
And why it's a 5/5? I don't have any complaints. I like all of it.
Hollow Knight is fundamentally a standard Metroidvania in structure. Metroidvania is a pretty heavily contested term when it comes to describing games, but Hollow Knight is a quintessential example of the genre. Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night had a bug baby, and it's name is Hollow Knight.
HK's artistic direction is the most recognizable, and one of the best aspects of the game. It's beautiful, unique, and clean. The foreground and backgrounds of scenery blend into these gorgeous screens but without making it unclear what is actually a part of the environment. The character designs are unique, the VFX are great, it's varied, and easy on the eyes. I cannot praise it enough
Mechanically, HK is the true pinnacle of the genre. The ability variety, drip feed pacing, and smoothness of combat all contributes to a fun game with a heavy challenge curve that doesn't feel frustrating.
Describing the gameplay loop isn't worthwhile when you can just Google what a metroidvania is, but it's fun, lol.
And why it's a 5/5? I don't have any complaints. I like all of it.